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B2C vs. B2B Marketing: Differences and Strategies

While they share many similarities, B2C (Business to Consumer) and B2B (Business to Business) marketing strategies have some significant differences. These variations display the intrinsic focus differences to be included in your marketing plans.

B2B Marketing Focus,

Businesses target streamlining the purchase research and buying process, hoping to save time and money, increasing their bottom line. Therefor B2B marketing correctly focuses on logic, stressing both the benefits and features of the selling company’s products.
Sellers should also focus on controlling the cost of sales, as it can often be more expensive to market to businesses, as they tend to seek more sophisticated marketing strategies that highlight the wise logic of purchasing sellers’ products.

B2C Marketing Focus

Consumers typically make more purchases based on emotion than pure logic. Some marketing gurus believe targeting features, at the expense of benefits, is the best plan. Other equally-talented marketing professionals believe the opposite. Focusing on benefits, while downplaying products’ features, delivers better results in the opinion of some B2C experts.
Consumers typically do not share B2B prospects’ need for more lengthy, logical marketing messages. The consumer market seldom has the time or inclination to evaluate longer marketing copy; they want sellers to “get to the point, quickly.”
The magic question for consumers: “How will your product help me _________ (look better, feel better, appear to be cool, etc.)?” Answer this question effectively and you’ll have consumers lining up to buy your products.

Marketing Differences to Consider

Industry insider jargon is OK for B2B, but not for B2C. Business buyers want sellers that know their buzzwords, while B2C consumers want simple English reasons to buy.

B2B customers want to be educated; B2C consumers, not so much. Business buyers want to learn more about their purchases; B2C buyers want the info they need quickly.

Detailed content attracts B2B customers, but not B2C consumers. Consumers don’t want to spend the time to read and digest details.

Lengthy content works for B2B; B2C requires shorter, “to the point” marketing content. Since B2B purchase decisions take longer and often result in long-term relationships, lengthy content is effective. B2C has no such objectives besides a by now decision.

B2C customers follow your brand, but live in the “now,” without seeking long term relationships. B2C companies work hard to develop relationship customers and brand loyalty, but face uphill battles to reach these objectives.

B2B buyers often must deal with a “chain of command” that B2C consumers do not. Business marketers expect to face a chain of command buy decision. Consumers typically make purchase decisions on their own.

B2B buying cycles are typically much longer than B2C decision-making, which often involve only minutes.

They face different issues. B2B marketers need sufficient quality content, along with the time to create or find it. B2C sellers typically need larger ad budgets and cross-channel methods of spreading information about their products.

While numerous marketing platforms offer similar features and benefits for B2B and B2C organizations, it’s rather easy to see that systems designed for one or the other may be preferable. Top firms, like Experiture, customize their platforms to give their customers the power and flexibility to tailor their marketing programs to target their specific customer behaviors.

There is no more effective method for reaching your current and future customers than helping businesses reach out and touch their customers. This reality is the basic reason that social media is such a successful platform for engaging customers. The key factor is always knowing the buttons your customers (in any industry) want you to push to give them valid reasons to buy from you.